Warning message when multiple Outlook clients are set to synchronize with CRM

Posted by Matt Weiler on August 19, 2010  |  Comments (1)

A client of ours recently began deploying the CRM Outlook client to its users and they ran across a new scenario for them. If a user has the Outlook client installed on more than one computer, they will see this message when Outlook opens:

"You already have Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook installed on another computer. Only one client computer per user can run the automated process that does bulk updates of outlook items with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Data. This client should be the computer that is most often online (such as a desktop computer) or the users primary computer. To change the Synchronizing client, on the CRM Menu, click options, and click the synchronizing tab."

After reading this message, you might find yourself asking what's the difference between being a primary and secondary client? Does that affect when or how CRM data is synchronized to the client? What about Outlook items being synchronized back to CRM?

Luckily for us (and our client), the MS CRM E2 team's "Nuts and Bolts" series covered this exact topic! The full white paper is chock full of great information about the Outlook synchronization process, but for anyone else who's been curious about this message, here's a summary of the differences beween the primary and any secondary clients: